Automotive air bag systems include an air bag module mounted within a housing that is concealed beneath a surface of the vehicle interior. In particular, passenger air bag systems may include a chute defined by the housing and extending within the instrument panel of the associated vehicle. The chute may be concealed beneath a surface of the instrument panel, or outer substrate thereof. In such an arrangement, the outermost layer of the instrument panel extends over an opening to the air bag chute and is supported by a door panel that is movably coupled with a portion of the housing, which may include a wall of the chute. The adjacent portion of the instrument panel or outer substrate thereof includes a pre-weakened tear line that ruptures upon air bag deployment, allowing the air bag to deploy within the chute, out of the opening thereof, and from out of the instrument panel. The door panel provides support for the instrument panel substrate and is typically hingedly coupled with the chute so as to rotate during air bag deployment such that the portion of the instrument panel substrate over the door opens away from the deploying air bag in a generally predetermined movement without impeding the deployment path of the air bag.
Previous housings have included a hinge that is integrally formed with both the chute or other adjacent structure and the door panel. Housings having such hinges are often made from a plastic material exhibiting some degree of flexibility such that the hinge may provide the desired opening motion by bending or flexing. Some hinges of this type have been developed to provide the general ability to bend or flex through a desired opening motion of the associated door. Such flexing may be generally configured to provide maximum movement of the associated door so as to allow the air bag to deploy with minimum impediment thereto. However, air bags incorporated into instrument panels of certain designs may make deflection or other interference with a deploying air bag desirable. Accordingly, further modification may be desirable.